Implementing sms-based value added service

ABSTRACT

An SMS-based wireless value-added service implementation method and system. The method comprises the steps of: disassembling a wireless value-added service into command identifiers for commands and corresponding information bodies at the service provider side, said information bodies including information required for the commands and service related information; combining each of said command identifiers and corresponding information body into a command body, and inserting a logic sequence identifier that indicates the logic sequence of the commands into the command body, then assembling the command bodies into a short message. The service server sends the short message to the mobile terminal, and the interpretation program in SIM card of the mobile terminal interprets the short message into corresponding commands and information which have a logical sequence and can be executed in the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal executes the commands based on the logic sequence, and displays the information. Wireless value-added service can be available through pushing, web customization and downloading with mobile terminal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method and system for implementingSMS-based wireless valued-added services, especially to a method andsystem for downloading wireless service information from a serviceprovider by use of short message technology, storing it into thesubscriber identity module (SIM) card of a mobile terminal, andproviding the corresponding management function.

BACKGROUND ART

It is possible to load in a SIM card an application that defines a menu,a data-input interface and a data format for communicating with aservice provider. A customer selects a desired service through the menuand inputs the required data via the data input interface. Theapplication organizes the data into a fixed format in order to send thatdata to a value-added service platform of carrier over a GSM network.The application is pre-configured when SIM card is produced.

There is a need to change applications contained on a SIM card becausecustomer demand changes and new applications emerge. Several methods areavailable: (1) A user gets a new SIM card that supports new applicationsat the PoP (Point of Presence) of mobile carriers or reloads newapplications into the existing SIM card. This method needs specialdevice and software system support; (2) use over-the-air (OTA) downloadtechnology to download the service menu, service data input interfaceand service data delivery format required in the SIM card from thewireless value-added service platform to the SIM card; (3) build abrowser on the mobile terminal equipment to locate all the data relatedto the application at a service server. Users can access variousfunctions defined by the applications through interaction with theservice server.

Each of the above methods has certain limitations. For the first method,even though the mobile user is interested in new applications, he/shemight find it is inconvenient to go to the PoP of the mobile carrier toreplace the SIM card; For the second method, a new service generallyrequires to download a large amount of data, whereas one short messagecan only carry limited data For the third method, it requires the mobileterminal requires to interact with the service provider, which isrelatively time consuming. Even a simple application might involvecomplicated operations. The process might become particularly slow whenthe number of users reaches a certain critical level.

Therefore, there is a need to improve the updating of a wireless serviceon a SIM card, in particular to make it more flexible and moreconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above problems, the object of the present invention is toprovide a method and system for implementing SMS-based wirelessvalue-added service, in which the service related information, commandsindicated by command identifiers, and the least information for commandsare extracted from the entire commands and information of a value-addedservice, encapsulated into a short message, and sent to the mobileterminal for one time without repeatedly interaction of user withservice provider, that is, a fully executed menu can be formed at themobile terminal.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a SMS-basedwireless value-added service implementation method, comprising thefollowing steps: disassembling a wireless value-added service intocommand identifiers for commands and corresponding information bodies atthe service provider side, said information body including informationrequired for the commands and service related information; combiningeach of said command identifiers and the corresponding information bodyinto a command body, inserting a logic sequence identifier thatindicates the logic sequence of the commands into the command body,assembling the commands bodies to makeup a short message; sending theshort message to the mobile terminal from said service provider; and aninterpretation program in SIM card of the mobile terminal interprets theshort message into the corresponding commands and information that havesaid logic sequence and can be executed in the mobile terminal.

In addition, the present invention provides a system for implementingSMS-based wireless value-added services, comprising: a wirelessvalue-added service server at a service provider side for disassemblinga wireless value-added service into command identifiers for commands andcorresponding information bodies, said information bodies includinginformation required for the commands and service-related information;combining each of the said command identifiers and the correspondinginformation body into a command body, and inserting a logic sequenceidentifier that indicates logic sequence of the commands into thecommand body, assembling the command bodies into a short message, andsending the short message to a mobile terminal; and a SIM card forstoring an interpretation program for interpreting said short messagereceived from said wireless value-added server into correspondingcommands and information which have a logic sequence and can be executedby the mobile terminal.

The present invention eliminates a large number of redundant informationand codes in the transmission process. Accordingly, the amount of usefulinformation carried in one short message is significantly increased,leading to a higher delivery efficiency of the short message. For acommon wireless service, a user can download the service to a SIM cardby communicating with service provider only once, and access the serviceat any time later. The user can send short messages directly using themobile terminal, or customize his preferred service through a WEB page.When a new application is introduced, the service provider can send themenu data (short messages) of the new wireless service to subscribersvia the service provider for selection by the subscribers. Thesubscribers can also remove the downloaded application and request for anew service through the management function provided by a residentprogram.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and advantages will be illustrated inthe detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network system in accordance with the inventionbased on a Network Operator structure.

FIG. 2 is illustrates a network system in accordance with the inventionbased on an Internet Content Provider structure.

FIG. 3 is a system block diagram of an embodiment according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is the flow chart to register new wireless service according tothe present invention.

FIG. 5 is the flow chart to release a service.

FIG. 6 is the flow chart to book a service by a Web Page.

FIG. 7 is the flow chart to book a service by a mobile terminal.

FIG. 8 is the flow chart of the operation of the interpretation programin a SIM Card.

FIG. 9 is a menu structure diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a network system that includes: an internet contentprovider (ICP) network 100 which consists of a ICP application server101 and a ICP web server 102; Internet 103; an application server 104,which can send the wireless service in short message format to a SMSC(short message service center); an application database 105 for storingwireless services, various requests, and logs etc; a mobile operatornetwork 120 which consists of a SMSC 106, a GSM Network 110, atelecommunication data network 109, and firewall & Getaway (FW); anoperation, application and management (OAM) server 107 which offers thefunctions of configuration, management, maintenance etc; anauthentication & billing server 108 for providing authentication andbilling information for subscribers, ICPs, and operators; a mobile phoneor a car phone 111; and a SIM card 112 which supports Java virtualmachine.

FIG. 2 has the same components indicated by the identical references asFIG. 1 except for a different topology, which will not be described indetails.

FIG. 3 is the system block diagram of an embodiment according to thepresent invention. The system comprises: a wireless value-added serviceserver 201, which includes a plurality of wireless value-added services,for disassembling each wireless value-added service into a group ofcommands and the corresponding information bodies, each of saidinformation bodies includes information required for the command andservice related information; combining each of said commands and thecorresponding information body into a command body, inserting the logicsequence identifier that indicates the logic sequence of said commandsinto the command body, and assembling the command bodies to makeup ashort message, said wireless value-added server sending thecorresponding short message to a mobile terminal based on variouswireless service requests; a SIM card 112 for storing an Applet (aninterpretation program) 202 for interpreting the short message receivedfrom said wireless value-added service server into correspondingcommands and information which have a logic sequence to be executed bythe mobile terminal; and a general sever group 203 for offering thefunctions of access to network, service release, management,maintenance, authentication and billing etc.

Specifically, the wireless value-added service server 201 includes: asimulator & wireless service script generator 311 for disassembling awireless value-added service into a plurality of command bodies togenerate a wireless service script which is the data file based on XML,and the data file is converted from a Web page, and authenticate andsimulate the script, the wireless service script contains all commandbodies mentioned above; a short message generator 211 for processing thescript file to form a short message which will be stored into anapplication database 212 which can be a database supporting SQLstandard; the application database 212 for storing the information suchas wireless services, various requests, and the logs etc; a servicerequest handle module 213 for processing the wireless service requestssent from the Web server or mobile terminals, or reading thecorresponding short messages from the database according to the PUSHcommand actively sent from the application sever 104 to send. Saidgenerator contains a command identifier-command mapping list for mappingeach of the codes of the commands into a corresponding commandidentifier. It is the command identifier that is put into the shortmessage, not the longer codes of the command itself, to save the dataamount in the short message. The same command identifier-command mappinglist is also stored in the SIM card in advance.

The command identifier-command mapping list is as follows, for example:

-   -   01 the command to display a text    -   02 the command needing to be input by the user    -   03 the command to send short messages    -   04 ... ...    -   ...... ... ...

The service request handle module 213 comprises: a short messagereceiver 413; a short message sender 412; and a guard server 411 foraccessing the database 212, calling the short message receiver 413 tostore the service request sent from a mobile terminal by a subscriberinto the database 212, and calling the short message sender 412 toforward the corresponding short messages to the SIM card 112 of thesubscriber.

The general server group 203 comprises: a Web server 102 for providinguser interface by web page for subscribers, and submitting the wirelessservice requests selected by the subscribers to the database 212; an OAMserver 107 for offering the functions of configuration, management andmaintenance for the subscribers; an authentication & billing server 108for providing authentication and billing information for subscribers,ICPs, and carriers, and a service release server 113 for offering therelease function of service application for ICPs.

The following is the implementing of the method according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart to register new wireless service according to thepresent invention. In Step S21 of the FIG. 4, the simulator & wirelessservice script generator 311 disassembles a wireless value-added serviceinto multiple commands and the respective corresponding informationbodies, said information bodies including information required for thecommands and service related information, combines each of said commandsand the corresponding information body into a command body, inserts thelogic sequence identifier that indicates the logic sequence of commandsinto the command body to generate the wireless service script 312 whichis authenticated and simulated by the simulator to guarantee the menuformed at the mobile terminal side from the generated script is correct.In Step S22, the short message generator 211 reads the script file 312generated by the simulator & wireless service script generator 311,analyzes and processes it, then generate a short message in Step S23.After the wireless service short message is generated, In Step S24, theshort message generator 211 stores the generated short message into thedatabase 212.

The ICP can actively send the PUSH command from the service releaseserver 113 to provide new wireless services to users.

As shown in FIG. 5, in Step S31, the service release server 113 sends aservice release request to the application database 212. In Step S32,the guard server 411 monitors the service release request from theapplication database 212 and extracts the required short message of thewireless service from the application database 212. In Step S33, theguard server 411 distributes and forwards the short message, and callsthe short message sender 412. In Step S34, the short message sender 412sends the short message to the applet 202 residing in the SIM card (theprocess of the wireless service short message operated by the applet inthe SIM card will be described later).

In addition, the user can submit a booking request to the Web sever 102when browsing the web page customized for the value-added service by theICP to obtain the required wireless value-added service.

As shown in the FIG. 6, in Step S41, the Web server 102 sends a wirelessvalue-added service request to the application database 212. In StepS42, the guard server 411 monitors the wireless value-added servicerequest from the application database 212 and extracts the requiredshort message of wireless service from the application database 212. InStep S43, the guard server 411 distributes and forwards the shortmessage, and calls the short message sender 412. In Step S44, the shortmessage sender 412 sends the short message to the applet 202 residing inthe SIM card (the process of the wireless service short message operatedby the applet in the SIM card will be described later).

The user can also send a request of booking a new service through theapplet 202 in the SIM card, which is sent through the Mobile 111firstly, then GSM network 110 to the wireless value-added service server201, to obtain the required wireless value-added service.

As shown in the FIG. 7, in step S51, the applet 202 residing in the SIMcard sends a request for the wireless value-added service in form ofshort message to the short message receiver 413. In step S52, the shortmessage receiver 413 forwards the request message to the guard server411. In Step S53, the guard server 411 stores the short message of therequest into the application database 212. In step S54, the guard server411 monitors the wireless value-added service request from theapplication database 212 and extracts a wireless service short messagecorresponding to the request from the application database 212. In stepS55, the guard server 411 distributes and forwards the short message,and calls the short message sender 412. In step S56, the short messagesender 412 sends the short message to the applet 202 residing in the SIMcard (the process of the wireless service short message operated by theapplet in the SIM card will be described later).

The applet 202 in the SIM card is an interpretation program forinterpreting and processing the wireless service short message asfollows.

As shown in the FIG. 8, in step S61, the SIM card 112 receives thewireless service message. In step S62, the applet 202 saves the wirelessservice short message as a SIM card file. In step S63, the applet 202converts the saved application information into corresponding commandsin the form of menu, which are displayed on the mobile phone in adesignated logical sequence therein. Specifically, there is saved in theSIM card in advance the same command identifier-command mapping list(not shown) as that in the service provider, as well as the redundantinformation corresponding to each of the commands. The applet 202converts or maps the commands into the respective command codes, andadds in the corresponding redundant information, so as to send thecomplete commands which are compliant with GSM specification to themobile phone after the conversion and addition. In step S64, the mobilephone executes the corresponding operations, that is, interpreting theshort message into a menu, displaying the menu on the mobile phone toexecute deleting and applying for new services to complete the functionsdefined by the wireless service.

Next, the method for extracting the command identifier, necessaryinformation for the commands, and service-related information will bedescribed in conjunction with an embodiment.

For example, a command for selection, which is compliant with GSMspecification, is shown as follows: Protective SIM Command Tag “D0”Length “ ” “calculated automatically” Command Details Tag “81” Length“03” Command Number “01” Type of command “24” Command qualifier “00”Device identitiesbodies Tag “82” Length “02” Source device identity “81”Destination device identity “82” Item content Tag “8F” Length “0A”ItemId “01” ItemValue “808BDD8D3967E58BE2”

In the conventional OTA mobile downloading application, all information(including the necessary information and redundant information) on theabove commands must be included into the short message to send, but thenecessary information in the commands in the above form is only theleast part thereof (for example, the underlined part in the example),the others are redundant information. Therefore, the effective datawhich can be contained in the short message is much less, so it is verydifficult to place one service into one short message. Further, thecodes of the commands themselves are relative longer, which oftenresults in errors during transmission and erroneous menu at the mobilephone. In the present invention, only the necessary data (the dataunderlined in the example) to complete the command are extracted at theservice provider, for example, “00” is a command qualifier, “00” and“01” is the necessary information to complete the command, and“808BDD8D3967E58BE2” (ItemValue) is the service-related information tocomplete the command. Only the necessary information for the commandsand service-related information are put into the information body whichconstitutes a command body by adding the above command identifier. Dueto excluding redundant information, the data required for transmittingthe command is dramatically reduced, and the effective data which can becontained in the short message and the efficiency of the short messageare increased.

In addition, in accordance with the present invention, since the mobileterminal such as mobile phone understands only the commands compliantwith GSM specification, before being used by the mobile terminal, theshort messages are interpreted by the applet in the SIM card, and theredundant information which is excluded in the short message butnecessary for the execution of the mobile phone, such as the codes of“81” (Tag), . . . “8F” (Tag) mentioned above, are supplemented by theapplet during the interpretation to form the complete commands which canbe executed by the mobile terminal and be compliant with GSMspecification. The redundant information corresponding to each commandis stored in the SIM card in advance.

Thus, for each command, 20 bytes length or more which is taken in theshort message can be saved. In the limited length of a short message(140 bytes for GSM Specification), can a complete service which has morecommands be accommodated. If there is a larger wireless value-addedservice, the remained parts of all commands and the correspondinginformation bodies of said wireless value-added service, which can notbe accommodated in one short message, can be placed in other at leastone short message, sequence identifiers for linking each short messageare inserted into said each short message, each of said short message issent to the mobile terminal, and the applet in SIM card of the mobileterminal combines said each short message and interprets said each shortmessage into corresponding commands and information which have a logicsequence and can be executed in the mobile terminal. For othercommunication systems, said short message can be one of the shortmessages which are compliant with CDMA, or GPRS specifications.

The format of the short message and the above completing process will beexplained in conjunction with a particular example as follows.

For instance, there is a wireless service named “WeatherQuery” as shownin FIG. 9, which has 3 commands: “WeatherQuery (WC)->Input Area Code(IAC)->Send (SND)”. Firstly, there is text display “WeatherQuery”, thecodes of its command body are “0100028FOA018059296C1467E58BE2”, in whichthe first “01” is a command identifier indicating that it is a commandto select text display; the following “00” is a command qualifierindicating the necessary information to complete the command; thefollowing “02” is the identity of next action, that is the above logicsequence identifier indicating the logic sequence between commands; the“8FOA018059296C1467E58BE2” is the necessary service-related information,which can be added onto the menu list for selection by users.

If the text display ““WeatherQuery” is selected, the second action“Input Area Code” will be taken, the codes of its command body are:“0200038D09088F935165533A53F791020305”, in which the first “02” is acommand identifier indicating that it is a command which needs to beinput by the user; the following “00” is a command qualifier indicatingthe necessary information to complete the command; the following “03” isthe identity of next action, that is the above logic sequence identifierindicating the logic sequence between commands; the“8D09088F935165533A53F791020305” is the necessary service-relatedinformation. At this point, the mobile phone is waiting for the input ofthe area code of the city to be queried by the user.

When the user completes the input of the area code of the city to bequeried, the next action “Send” will be taken, the codes of its commandbodies are “03008B0B0100038161F80004025451”, in which the first “03” isa command identifier indicating that it is a command which sends theshort message and does not need to be inserted the logic sequenceidentifier; the “008B0B0100038161F80004025451” is the necessaryinformation to complete the command. Then, the information identifyingthe starting location and length in which the data of each step arestored is added in the front, the information of each step is indicatedwith two bytes, and coded as follows:

-   -   0F0612150F27    -   OF the length of the information code of the first step    -   06 the starting location of the information code of the first        step    -   12 the length of the information code of the second step    -   15 the starting location of the information code of the second        step    -   0F the length of the information code of the third step    -   27 the starting location of the information code of the third        step

Finally, the information head which contains applied related informationis added.

The complete codes are as follows:

-   -   “010000F0612150F270100028F0A018059296C1467E58BE20200038D09088        F935165533A53F79102030503008B0B0100038161F80004025451”.

The mobile phone can send the Area Code input by the user to thewireless value-added service provider 201 to process. Thus, the serviceapplication at the mobile phone is completed.

Before the user applies for the wireless service short messages, thewireless value-added service provider generates wireless service script312 using the simulator & wireless service script generator 311 of thewireless value-added service provider 201, which can be data file basedon XML. An instance of the wireless service script is as follows: <?xmlversion=“1.0” encoding=“GB_2312-80”?> <xml> <menu id=“cn_weather”><description> chinese weather broadcast menu </description><interactive>0</interactive> <vas_name>c_swas</vas_name> <dcs>8</dcs><action id=“1” > <type>1</type> <qualifier>0</qualifier> <jump>2</jump><item> WeatherQuery</item> </action> <action id=“2” > <type>2</type><qualifier>0</qualifier> <jump>3</jump> <input> Input Area Code</input><min>2</min> <max>4</max> </action> <action id=“3” > <type>3</type><qualifier>1</qualifier> <send id = “168”>TQ</send> </action> </menu></xml>

Then, the script 312 is converted into a wireless service short messageby wireless service short message generator 211, and put into thedatabase. The short message can be a short message which is compliantwith one of the GSM, CDMA, GPRS specifications. The generated shortmessage is as follows:

“0100000F0612150F270100028F0A018059296C1467E58BE20200038D09088F935165533A53F79102030503008B0B0100038161F80004025451”.

For other wireless service applications, such as securities transaction,traffic information, price information etc., similar short messages canbe generated. If it is necessary, the information can also be encrypted.

Then, users can send the requests downloading the service at WEB severthrough Internet or a mobile phone, finally said requests will betransmitted to the service request handle module 213 of the wirelessvalue-added service provider 201. After it receives the requests, theservice request handle module 213 takes out the encoded wireless serviceshort message from application database 212 to send it to the user ofthe mobile phone. In addition, the value-added service provider can pushthe application service to the mobile phone of the user by directlyusing this module without the users requests.

After being received by the mobile phone, the wireless service messageis transmitted to applet residing in the SIM card, and saved as thefiles in the SIM card. When the user uses the applet in the SIM cardnext time, the identifier “WeatherQuery” of the downloaded applicationservice can be dynamically added into the service menu list, and whenthe user selects the service identifier from the list, the appletinterprets the saved information into logic actions which have a certainlogic sequence to complete the menu function defined by the applicationservice.

Therefore, in accordance with the above description, only once needed tocommunicate with the service provider, the users can download theapplication service onto the SIM card, and use it at any time later.

Although the preferred embodiments have been described as above, but thedescriptions is only for the object of the explanation, and it should beunderstood that the present invention can be made into various changesand modifications within the scope of the principles of the claims asattached.

For example, the invention may alternatively be summarized as follows.An application is loaded onto a carrier, preferably a SIM, via acommunication channel, preferably a message service. When activated, theapplication causes the carrier (SIM) to apply a sequence of commands toa host device, for example a mobile phone.

The application is composed of command bodies. A command body comprises:

-   -   a command identifier that identifies a particular command;    -   a sequence identifier that indicates the position of the command        in the sequence of commands; and    -   data necessary to execute the command as well as service-related        data.

The command body thus does not comprise “redundant” data=data that isnot necessary to execute the command but that should still be part ofthe command for reasons of conformity with the relevant standard orenvironment.

The carrier (SIM) comprises an applet that interprets the application soas to obtain commands that the carrier (SIM) can apply to the mobile andthe mobile can execute.

The invention thus allows faster and more reliable loading. Theapplication comprises relatively few bytes because redundant informationthat is normally present in a SIM-to-mobile command is removed. Theapplet restores the redundant information so as to obtain aSIM-to-mobile command in conformity with the standard (GSM).

1. A service implementation method, comprising the following steps:disassembling a service into command identifiers for commands andcorresponding information bodies, said information body includinginformation required for the commands and service related information;combining each of said command identifiers and the correspondinginformation body into a command body, inserting a logic sequenceidentifier that indicates the logic sequence of the commands into thecommand body, assembling the commands bodies to makeup a message;sending the message to a SIM card present in a mobile terminal; and aninterpretation program in the SIM card interprets the short message intothe corresponding commands and information that have said logic sequenceand can be executed in the mobile terminal.
 2. The method as set forthin claim 1, wherein a service provider and the SIM card have a samecommand identifier-command mapping list, said service provider convertsthe commands contained in wireless value-added service intocorresponding command identifiers according to said commandidentifier-command mapping list, and said interpretation program in saidSIM card interprets the command identifiers in the short message intocorresponding commands according to said command identifier-commandmapping list.
 3. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein redundantinformation required for the commands are stored in said SIM card inadvance, when interpreting the short message, the interpretation programadds the redundant information into the corresponding commands to form acomplete command that can be executed by the mobile terminal.
 4. Themethod as set forth in claim 1, further includes the steps of: placingthe remained parts of the complete commands and the correspondinginformation bodies for a wireless value-added service which can not beaccommodated in one message into other at least one message; insertingsequence identifiers for linking the messages into each of saidmessages; sending the each message to the mobile terminal; and saidinterpretation program in SIM card of the mobile terminal assemblingsaid messages and interpreting into corresponding commands andinformation which have a logic sequence and can be executed by themobile terminal.
 5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein aservice provider sends the message to the mobile terminal based on aPUSH command from a service release server.
 6. The method as set forthin claim 1, further comprising the step of: a said service providersending the short message to the mobile terminal based on the requestfrom a WEB server, which is submitted by a subscriber to the WEB servervia the WEB page customized by said service provider for the wirelessvalue-added service over Internet.
 7. The method as set forth in claim1, further comprising the step of: a service server sending the shortmessage to the mobile terminal based on the request from mobileterminal.
 8. A system for implementing services, comprising: a serviceserver for disassembling a service into command identifiers for commandsand corresponding information bodies, said information bodies includinginformation required for the commands and service-related information;combining each of the said command identifiers and the correspondinginformation body into a command body, and inserting a logic sequenceidentifier that indicates logic sequence of the commands into thecommand body, assembling the command bodies into a message, and wirelesssending the short message to a mobile terminal; and a SIM card forstoring an interpretation program for interpreting said message receivedfrom said wireless value-added server into corresponding commands andinformation which have a logic sequence and can be executed by themobile terminal.